Black Swan: Definitely Dark

I had the wonderful opportunity to view “Black Swan” this evening.  There was absolutely no doubt I would enjoy this movie.  I would enjoy it if I was blind as the score is written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of my top five faves (Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Springsteen and I’ll leave the last for you to guess).   The premise of the movie is based on Tchaikovsky’s (from now on, he’s the big T), Swan Lake.  Just saying Swan Lake has the leitmotifs running through my mind.  A leitmotif is a signature "melody” allotted to a character.  It can then be intricately woven into score in many different ways and times.  It’s a device to tell the story symphonically.

But once again, I have wandered down a side path.  I have lots to say.  Before I get to the actual movie review, I thought it might be a bit helpful if we all knew the story of Swan Lake.  (Trust me, the movie is not a ballet called Swan Lake, it’s a movie about a ballerina who happens to be dancing the lead role and what is going on in her life/head.

I have boiled this down, in my mind at least, to four major characters:

Odette: a Princess, and The Swan Queen

Prince Siegfried:  The Prince (and idiot- you will see why)

Von Rothbard:  The Sorcerer

Odile:  Von Rothbard’s Daughter

Odette becomes enchanted by Von Rothbard and is a swan by day and human by night.  Therefore, she must live by a lake.  As it happens, she lives with a whole bunch of swans who happen to have the same problem and they make her Swan Queen.    The only way to release the spell is to have someone (Prince-like) pledge undying love to Odette.  One day, Prince Siegfried wanders by as Odette has changed from swan to Princess.  He falls madly in love with her due to her beauty and asks her to the ball.  On the night of the ball, Von Rothbard and Odile show up.  Now- you should know that the Evil Sorcerer’s daughter looks almost exactly (it’s uncanny!) just like Odette.  The Prince, being clueless, thinks she is Odette and pledges his undying love to the wrong person.  This has had the effect of dooming Odette to the control of Von Rothbard for life.  Odette explains to Siegfried that she must die to be free so they both throw themselves into the lake.  (Remember there was a lake?)  This destroys Von Rothbard’s powers and the “whole bunch of swans” are released from their enchantment even if it’s too late for Odette and Siegfried. 

Okay.  Back to the movie.  We have Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman)- newly appointed Prima Ballerina, Lily (Mila Kunis) new member of the Corps de Ballet and alternate for the Swan Queen, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassell) Ballet Master, Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder) former and just (not by her desire) retired ballerina and Erica Sayers (Barbara Hershey) Nina’s mother, a former ballerina who gave it all up to have her daughter.  The first thought I’d like to point out is the ballet master’s name, Leroy.  The King.  Just saying.  Now that we know the cast of characters, let’s dish.

The movie takes place from Nina’s point of reference.  (Thanks Joanne, for pointing it out!)  The plot line concerns her appointment as the new Prima Ballerina starring as the Swan Queen, playing both the parts of Odette and Odile.  Nina needs to work hard at this as she has the White Swan down but must mature, develop, let go, feel, etc. for the part of the Black Swan.  Nina works very hard to keep this role, to fulfill the requirements of the Ballet Master.  However, conflicts enter Nina’s life:  her overbearing mother, her colleague Lily.  Nina is troubled and beset as she navigates her way to opening night.

If I write any more, I’d be giving away the movie.

Darren Aronofsky, the director, has put together a fine film.  It is gripping, interesting, and the soundtrack is simply marvelous.  The Hollywood Foreign Press apparently liked the movie,  it gave Black Swan four Golden Globe nominations this morning:  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress  and Best Supporting Actress.  I definitely agree.

PS: Ok, #5 is Dvorak- you must absolutely listen to the New World Symphony.  He wrote it about the United States of America.  It is also the source of the theme from Jaws.  Just listen- it really is.  And okay, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Frank Zappa…….

127 Hours: And it felt like that

I saw Danny Boyle's new movie, 127 Hours, last night.  I had been looking forward to this film with some trepidation as we all know what happens to the protagonist's right arm.  I was cheered by the thought that it was only an hour and a half long.  Then the movie started. 

It started with a series of shots of crowds of people.  Lots of people.  Then it focused on Aron Ralston (James Franco) getting ready to go hang out in the desert.  And not answering the phone when his mother called.  And not telling his co-worker where exactly where he was going to trek that day.

Next we see him on his bike.  He's going to beat the best record to get from here to there.  Then he falls.  Thus nature can screw you up.  He gets back up and gets going again.  Then he meets up with two lost girls.  Helps them find their way.  They separate.  He falls down a crevice and gets stuck.  He yells for help.  No one hears him. 

The rest of the movie has Aron trying to free himself, recording himself on his camera, rationing his water, etc.  This short movie felt so much longer than it really was.  I so very much wanted to like it.  There were so many flashbacks, "hallucinations", montages, and weird scenes that just didn't make sense to me that it detracted from the experience.  It was a relief that the movie finally got down to business and Aron freed himself.  Perhaps I am shallow, perhaps other events in my life or my mood affected my view of the movie but I felt it was trying too hard to be "artsy" or something and I think it failed for me on that level.  There was a story and it was a simple one.  I truly adored Slumdog Millionaire and its story.  I think Boyle told that story very, very well.  This time out, he lost me.

8 1/2 and 9: Fellini set to music!

There it was- in the mailbox.  My reckoning. 
9
This meant that I finally had to sit down and watch Fellini's 8 1/2.  
Why, you ask?
Because the musical 9 is based on Fellini's movie. 
Taking the easy way out, I watched 9 first.  Of course.
I have now watched 8 1/2.  
Wow.
Black and white, subtitles (well, I learned French, not Italian).  Quite the art house vibe about it.  When you see it, you'll understand.  Gorgeous, beautiful images with lots and lots of the main character working out his problem. 

The Problem:  He hasn't written the next film.  This did not need a spoiler alert.
It does go much deeper than that.  It is said (on wikipedia) that the film is autobiographical and about the women Fellini has loved and lost.  It also chronicles a director's "mental block".  Of course, this is a bit silly, since the director directs, the producer produces and the writer writes.  The director does not need to write.  Of course, the writer has an interesting, narrative role.  Marcello Mastroianni is Guido the director, Anouk Aimee is his wife.  Talk about gorgeous.  Sigh.

Now to 9.  What a spectacular looking film.  Gorgeous in a completely different way.  Color and Women Everywhere.  This is a much more "light" version of Fellini's film.  In this version, the director has much more control (or it appears that way, a la Christopher Nolan).  The main character, the director Guido, is still suffering from writer's block.  In this film, women are assigned a more defined role:  Mother, Wife, Mistress, Muse, Producer, Whore.  And the actresses chosen to play them:  Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Stacy Ferguson.  Yeah, that's Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas.  Did a great job in a small role, but memorable.  Which is saying something considering the company she is keeping.  This one is a musical so all the various players have to sing and dance.  I have to say that I never thought of Dame Judi as a singer but she manages.  (She's better as "M" in the Bond movies, though.)  Who realized Kate Hudson could sing and dance that well?  And Marion Cotillard is a delight, as always, wonderful in everything she does.  I am not slighting anyone else, I just want to finish.

Oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis plays Guido.  Did I forget to mention that?  Excellent as always.

If you have the time, see Fellini's movie first.  Then see 9. 
I liked them both immensely for what the filmmakers wanted to offer.

Seeing RED: Retired Extremely Dangerous

It's Saturday morning, my extra-special, reserved, don't bother me, don't call me, leave me alone time.  My day to sleep in.  AAARRRRGGGGHHHH.  Somebody has torn down the house across the street from me (a cute little cape cod) and is building a four bedroom colonial with a two car garage.  To add insult to injury, not only does this new house loom over our little piece of the neighborhood's landscape and take up most of the lot, this #*%#@!*&%$ builder is having the crew work on Saturdays.  Starting at 7 AM.  So, I've been up since 7 AM.  And  SEEING RED.  What is a reasonable person to do?  Well, I don't know about you, but I checked the movie listings and RED was playing at 10:20 (the $6 admission, sweet!) so I went to see RED. 

I've been looking forward to seeing this movie.  This is a movie that the Ladies would usually gather for, have brunch then go see together.  Alas, this didn't happen.  We all sort of made different plans for this one.  Oh well, at least I had a nice back-up for the early morning disruption of my day to sleep in.  (I wonder if I can sue that builder for ruining my "pursuit of happiness"?)  But I've digressed again.  Back to movie.

This is the blurb on IMDB about the plot:  When his idyllic life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive.  Frank Moses is played by Bruce Willis.  So now you can see where this is going.  If not, go back to previous blog posts and read up on Bruce Willis.  Then come back here.  That's okay, we'll wait for you.  Okay, good.  Next to show up in this movie, a bit of surprise, is Mary-Louise Parker.  I like her, just the right amount of normal with lots of quirkiness.  Loved her on the West Wing.  Really great in Weeds (note to self- finish watching that.)  Then Morgan Freeman joins in, we pick up the incomparable John Malkovich and oh, look, it's Helen Mirren!  That's quite a gang.  Of course, not only does the gang need to stay alive and keep fighting off the killers, they need to find out why they are being shot at in the first place and who ordered this.  Now it's time for the bad guys (masquerading as good guys of course). 

For the bad guys we have Rebecca Pidgeon (stiff, but then she doesn't really have to do much but give orders and fade into the background), Karl Urban as William Cooper, the operative given the main task to take care of Frank Moses.  Now this is an interesting role.  And an interesting actor.  And there it is on IMDB- William Cooper was Eomer in LOTR.  Now I can see it.  He was also in a lot of other things, most recently the new Star Trek and played Bones.  I like this guy.  I think we'll be seeing more of him.  (Hint: the powers that be are making a sequel to Star Trek.)  But there I go again, getting off track.  Next up on the list of bad guys:  the evil business man played by none other than Richard Dreyfuss.  He makes a great evil business man.  The stature, the voice, everything about him fits perfectly into this role.  And can he work it.  Let's see, who's left.  Oh, the guy who plays the Vice President of the USA.  He looked very familiar so another trip to IMDB which revealed his regular appearance on Nip/Tuck, hence his familiarity.  No, I don't watch N/T, just see commercials with his face from time to time.  He also played Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four.

So, we've rounded out the cast on both sides.  Now, why would anyone want to interrupt the retirement of Frank Moses (Willis) who is trying to woo, long distance Mary-Louise Parker's character?  And why?  Oh, and a Russian gets involved, was involved a long time ago, does a favor, something like that.  You really should see the movie. 

Overall, I give the movie an A-.  It was just a bit slower than the usual action packed adventures, but then, they retired, right?

The Social Network (or How Facebook Came to Be)

Yesterday, being a weekend day and a lovely one to have brunch with a friend then wander off to a movie since we hadn't had time to see each other in quite awhile, we decided to take in The Social Network.  First, let me say that the Brunch at Papa Razzi is always wonderful.  This is a "chain" sort of.  I think there are a few restaurants in New England and maybe a couple in New York or maybe one in Paramus, NJ.  If you are so lucky, go have brunch.  Or lunch or dinner, for that matter.  I just adore their risotto but the Tuscan Eggs Benedict calls to me.  Why on earth would I think of making hollandaise sauce or consider poaching an egg when they will do it for me AND serve it with a mimosa?  I am a practical woman.  Give me brunch and I will then go to a movie.  So we did.

We were so smart having brunch, we went to the matinee and paid the frugal price at the theatre!  I just love doing that.  And we learned all about how Facebook was originally "The Facebook" and before that it really should have been "Harvard Connection" because apparently Mark Zuckerberg was hired to set up a program for three seniors as a business.  But these seniors weren't as perspicacious as Zuckerberg (not that he was at first, either), but he was smart enough to keep it all to himself.  The screenplay is written by Aaron Sorkin (whom I just love, he wrote Sports Night, West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip for television) based on the book by Ben Mezrich.  Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg), Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin- co-founder of Facebook) and Justin Timberlake (Sean Parker) were all very believable in their roles.  It was a film that kept my interest all the way through, I didn't find myself wondering what time it was or thinking of anything else.  Though I must say I wanted to smack those Winklevoss twins in the head once or twice.  Real nitwits.  Or perhaps that's just how the parts were written.  Sorry boys.

Overall, I give the movie a B+.  I would think to see a nomination for best screenplay for Aaron Sorkin.  Perhaps Best Supporting Actor for Andrew Garfield or Justin Timberlake.  Depends what the rest of the competition brings in the next 45 days.  It's time to think about these things.  I think Andrew Garfield would probably get a nomination for his work in Never Let Me Go, which was more powerful than here, perhaps.  But combining his performances in both movies, he is bound to get a nomination.

Enjoy!

The Aristocrats: No, not the Disney movie, this is the one kids CAN'T watch

Finally, The Aristocrats made it to the top of my Netflix Queue.  I know, isn't it amazing when a movie finally gets there all on its own?  I am usually re-arranging the Q, putting some up to first place and putting some further down, depending on my mood, how I'm feeling, did I get around to reading that book yet, etc.  Anyway, the movie made it to the top and I really did want to see it.  For those who don't know, The Aristocrats should definitely not be confused with the Disney movie.  In fact, the beginning of this movie deals with just that problem.

SPOILER ALERT!


This is a comedy/documentary that discusses the origin, the anatomy, the analysis, the style (comparing and contrasting) of delivery, of a joke that is called The Aristocrats.  By the way, that is the punchline.  Paul Provenzano and Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) gather together 100 of their friends and fellow comedians to work on this small project.  You will probably recognize many of the participants.  I recognized quite a few.  Some have passed on (the movie came out in 2005) ...... George Carlin and Richard Jeni come to mind.  Most are still with us.  Phyllis Diller takes part though does not give us a version of the joke.  The joke itself is legend among  comedians and no one, it appears, quite knows where it started.  However, it has a certain structure.  It begins with:

A family walks into a talent agent's office.  What happens next is.....
From there is up to the imagination of the story teller.  Or rather joke teller.  It can go on as long as one wants to.  The point is tell the most sick, vile, depraved, disgusting, unspeakably obscene, gross, crude story one can.  Then the talent agent will ask...... "And what do you call yourselves?"  And we all know the answer.....
"The Aristocrats".
The movie was putting me off for the first fifteen minutes or so, but then I became quite intrigued.  There were fascinating side points such as hand gestures (Drew Carey had the best, I thought).  And, I didn't want to miss Bob Saget's telling of the joke which had been much bally-hoo'd as the ultimate.  After a time, I think I developed a numbness and just was curious to see what each person said and was interested more in the creative process.  I was more impressed with those who were less obscene and came up with more interesting stories.  But that's just me.  Though I did like Bob Saget's because he kept adding more, and more in a "but wait, did I tell you...." style.  And he has that "All American" look that let's him get away with it. 
The movie itself is only 1.5 hours long (a selling point for one of my friends) but the extra features are quite the bonus.  There are additional scenes that continue the movie, essentially.  Then there are the featured comedians telling other jokes (my favorite!). 
My overall recommendation:  If you can handle the obscenity and the horrible, unspeakable degradation of human beings and move forward from there, it is a very entertaining movie.  I liked it a lot, but like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Altar Servers, better be prepared.

Pirate Radio: Rock'N'Roll!

Pirate Radio was released in 2009 but I didn't have the chance to see it in the movie theatre.  But it's been on my list.  Then I found out it was on my son's list.  So, it went to the top of the Netflix Q.  Today, we sat down and watched it together.  We rarely do this.  Only once in a while do we go to the movies or watch a movie together.  Our lives intersect a number of times on a daily basis and we spend time together, but we rarely have the time to spend two hours to sit and watch a movie.  So, when we do, I appreciate it all the more for the company I'm keeping.  And, since this is a movie about rock music, it interested us both.  Though I do feel I should mention that the last movie we saw in a theatre was Men Who Stare At Goats, and we both really liked it.  It was gently funny all the way through.  Not a "laff fest" one would expect with a Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson movie.  Plus, George Clooney looks so much like my brother, its uncanny.  His kids used to see pictures of George and say "Dad, look! there's a picture of you!".  So, you might want to check out Men who Stare at Goats with an open mind....... it's very silly.  But fun.  And you just might laugh gently throughout.  Also, lots of other good actors are in it, I think Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Robert Patrick (I love Robert Patrick- he was in the X-Files and Terminator II as the second terminator and he was SOOO cool!).

And, on to Pirate Radio.  First a few interesting facts.  This movie was very loosely based, and when I tell you loosely, I think it really, really means loosely, on an illegal radio station based in the North Sea in the 1960's.  The station was called the Radio Caroline, a popular pirate radio ship with a similar history and style.  Its purpose was to circumvent the hold record companies had on the broadcast of popular music in the UK.  Radio Caroline was founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to broadcast popular music in the UK.  The station continues to broadcast today as a satellite and internet broadcaster, with occasional transmissions from the final offshore ship, the MV Ross Revenge.  But it is such a wonderful, fun story.  And it makes a great movie, especially when you have the actors Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Rhys Ifans (who is allowed to come into his own) in the film. 

So, yes.  I give this movie all thumbs up.  The music is great.  Of course it is.  A lot of great music, a lot of great scenes and action.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is wonderful as the American DJ, Bill Nighy is great as the moneybags, there are several other DJ's who are great, and Rhys Ifans- who has played many second banana roles, character roles, is now in a more dominant role in an ensemble movie and it suits him very well.  Ifans handles the role and does it with great aplomb.  As for other surprises, Kenneth Branagh plays a rather dull member of the government and doesn't impress.  The only fun part is that his assistants are named Mr. Twatt and Ms. Clitt.  The best part is that Emma Thompson has a short cameo.  I knew that actress was somebody and she kept hiding behind high collars and sunglasses......

Last but not least, as this is a movie about rock music, apparently, I wasn't paying enough attention but someone slipped in a song or two that was anachronistic.  (I read that on IMDB.)  I do remember that one of the songs was "Fire" by Arthur Brown and to my memory, that came out in 1965 (I think) because my older brother Matt called me into his bedroom, turned on a radio? tape recorder?  he was always obsessed with radio and tape recorders.  Anyway, he said, "Jane, listen to this..... "Fire! (da DUM, da DUM,) well, you get the point, it was Arthur Brown's Fire and I heard it the first time when I was 20 years from being born because I am not telling you how old I am.  But you've probably guessed that I was not born yesterday since I have a son.  Anyway, I remember sixties music.  The background music and soundtrack are fantastic in this movie and is reason to see it alone.  I am not going to tell what else it is, that is for you to discover.  I know it brought me back, even those songs that shouldn't survive. Crimson in Clover, over and over...... thankfully that was silenced quickly, but I still remember where I was when I heard it first.


Sources for the preceding:  IMDB and Wikipedia.org.  Just in case you wondered.